Coto World’s Marketing Director, Max Pierson, has spent the last two years growing Coto Academy’s reach from a respected local language school into a brand increasingly recognized beyond Japan.
Max came to the role with a background built across borders. Raised in France, he worked with major international brands in Paris, including Chanel. His career path took him through China, Poland, Vietnam, and Germany before he arrived in Japan in 2024. His international perspective shapes everything from how Coto Academy, the company’s flagship school brand, speaks to prospective students in Europe and Asia.
Since joining, he has led the expansion of Coto’s marketing operations across paid media, SEO, content, social, and brand, building a data-driven team without losing the creative instincts already in place. Read on to hear how he thinks about marketing a language school in a fast-changing industry, and his vision for Coto Academy.
Welcome, Max! Please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Max, born and raised in France. During my studies, I had the chance to live in China and Poland, and to do internships in Vietnam and Germany. By the time I graduated, working abroad wasn’t a goal anymore. It was a given.
What was your career path in marketing before joining Coto?
I started my career in Paris in Digital Marketing Performance, helping brands like Chanel, HP, and Nissan get more out of their paid media and tracking setups. Those three years taught me how to make marketing measurable and accountable, which is still how I approach everything I do today. I moved to Japan in 2024, joined Coto, and have been here since.
How do you define your role as a Marketing Director for Coto Academy?
As Marketing Director, my role is to define how Coto Academy shows up to the world across SEO, paid media, content, social, and brand. I lead a team covering each of these channels, and I work closely with our admissions, academic, and product teams to make sure what we promise outside matches what we deliver inside.
What is your vision for the Coto Academy as a brand?
My vision for Coto is simple: I want us to become the number one Japanese language school in Japan first, and globally after that. Not by being the biggest, but by being the one that genuinely changes how people learn Japanese. The industry hasn’t fundamentally evolved in decades. We have the opportunity — and frankly the responsibility — to set the new standard.
But beyond being a school, I want people to see Coto as a lifelong partner for their life in Japan. Language is the entry point, but it’s not the whole picture. Succeeding here means navigating a job market, finding an apartment, and understanding the unwritten rules of daily life. The long-term direction we’re exploring is how Coto can support students across all of that, not just inside the classroom, but throughout their journey in Japan.
You’ve lived in a lot of countries before coming to Japan. How has your international experience shaped the way you communicate with our global audience?
In my previous roles, I was often the bridge between the French team and business units in the US, Asia, and other regions. That taught me something I now apply daily at Coto: the same message doesn’t land the same way everywhere. A claim that feels confident in the US can read as arrogant in Japan. Humor that works in France can confuse a reader in Asia.
So at Coto, we don’t just translate. We adapt. We think about who’s actually reading on the other side: what they’re worried about, what convinces them, what tone they expect. That’s true whether we’re talking to a 28-year-old engineer relocating from Europe or a corporate HR lead in Tokyo evaluating B2B training in Japan.
What is your approach to marketing for Coto Academy?
Most people imagine “living in Japan” before they imagine “learning Japanese.” Our job in marketing is to honor the dream without selling a fantasy. A lot of language schools sell the dream itself: cherry blossoms, neon streets, “your new life starts here.” We try to do the opposite.
Interesting! What do you mean by the opposite of that?
Japan is one of the most romanticized countries in the world, and I understand why. But romance alone doesn’t get anyone through their first visa appointment, their first day at the city hall, or their first job interview in Japanese.
My job is to show people that the dream is actually reachable, and then make the path to get there as clear as possible. Which school. Which program? What level can you realistically reach in 3, 6, or 12 months?
What people need is someone reliable enough to take them from where they are to where they want to be. That’s the gap marketing has to close.
What specifically drew you to join Coto Academy in 2024?
Three things. First, the mission. As a language learner myself, I know how decisive mastering the language is — to fit in, to understand the culture, to actually thrive in a country instead of just surviving it. Helping other foreigners do that is something I deeply relate to.
Second, the potential. Coto was already a respected name in the Japanese language school industry locally, but not yet by people abroad. Making Coto known worldwide has been one of my priorities since I joined, and we’re seeing the results: today, around 60% of students at our Shibuya campus are short-term visitors coming from outside Japan.
And third, the mindset. Coto is a small-to-medium-sized company. That means we are agile, willing to try new things, and willing to change direction quickly when something isn’t working. That’s not the image most people have of a Japanese company, and it’s exactly the kind of environment I wanted to work in.
What makes the education industry an exciting challenge for a marketing leader?
The pace of change, mainly. AI alone has rewritten what we thought we knew about how people learn and how they find us. Search behavior is shifting, content rules are being rewritten, new competitors and new teaching formats appear every quarter.
Beyond that, the nature of the product itself is what makes it exciting. Language learning isn’t a one-time purchase. We have to earn our students’ attention not just once at the inquiry stage, but every week for months or years. That forces a kind of marketing honesty you don’t always need in other industries. Our students set the bar high, which keeps us sharp!
And finally, the upside is genuinely high. Learning Japanese changes lives in measurable ways: it opens jobs, it strengthens relationships, and it unlocks a country. Being able to communicate that without exaggeration is the most fun part of the job.
Tell us your favorite campaign run at Coto Academy so far.
It’s not always about one specific campaign. Sometimes the most rewarding thing is the cumulative impact. When I joined Coto, our Shibuya school had just opened, and the campus was mostly empty. A year later, thanks to the team’s work, it’s almost full, to the point that finding a free meeting room has become a daily challenge (laugh).
I’m competitive by nature, so seeing that kind of result makes me genuinely happy — but never satisfied. I always want more.
What is the most rewarding part of seeing a marketing campaign turn into a real community of students and staff?
We hosted Nihongo Wakaranight, an event where we bring students to an izakaya and then a comedy bar. The goal is to build a community. When you see students who arrived a month earlier, unable to speak a word of Japanese, end up laughing, drinking, and chatting with people they just met, you realize marketing here is also about giving them a place to belong.
But honestly, the part I’m proudest of isn’t a campaign or a number — it’s the team itself.
We started small, and I see them grow and sharpen every single day. My job is to set the strategy and give them the tools they need to win. The day-to-day execution is entirely on them, and they handle it with a level of ownership and quality I genuinely admire.
Speaking of the marketing team, how does everyone look for ideas?
By setting high goals. I love a challenge! I believe it’s the only way to grow, and most of my team feels the same. If you want results that have never been reached, you need to try things that have never been done. That mindset is what keeps us inspired. And the tools keep evolving alongside us — AI, attribution, new platforms — which constantly open new angles to explore.
Second, proximity to the students. Our advantage as a marketing team is that we work inside the school. We see, interact with, and talk to our students every day, which is rare for marketers. We feel the direct impact of our work, and we understand the people we’re talking to. That gives the job a sense of meaning you don’t get sitting in a headquarters far from the customer.
And finally, celebrating wins. I believe you have to recognize when the team has done great work to keep the energy high.
Since you took the lead, how has the marketing department evolved in its use of digital tools and storytelling?
The team is more data-driven. When I joined, the team had strong creative instincts and was making decisions mostly on intuition (and doing it well, to be clear).
The first thing I did was build the data foundation: proper tracking, GA4 implementation, attribution clarity, and UTM discipline. Today, every campaign we ship has a clear hypothesis and a clear way of being measured. Between January 2024 and January 2026, we doubled our paid ads conversion rate, doubled our monthly inquiries, and nearly doubled our Instagram and Facebook followings.
How do you combine both data and creativity in marketing?
The goal was never to turn marketing into a spreadsheet exercise. The point of data is to make creativity sharper, not to replace it. The team now uses both. We know what’s working, so we can take real risks on what to try next. That balance between numbers and storytelling is what we’ve built, and what I’m most proud of.
We’ve also expanded internationally! We now run French and Chinese versions of the site, with more languages on the way. Our students come from everywhere, and our marketing should meet them in their own language.
Outside of analyzing data and building brands, what are your primary interests or hobbies?
Outside of work, American football is the main one. I grew up playing in France, and one thing not everyone knows is that American football is genuinely popular in Japan — there’s a serious national championship here, including a pro division.
I currently play in the second-highest division, which has been one of the best ways for me to integrate into Japan beyond just work. Honestly, I recommend it to anyone trying to improve their Japanese: join a sports club or any kind of community group!
What advice would you give to a creative professional who is thinking about joining a fast-paced, international team like Coto’s?
A few things! One, be a team player — at Coto, nothing meaningful gets done alone.
Don’t be afraid of a challenge. If you want a job where everything is already figured out, this isn’t it.
And finally, stay curious. We’ll train you, but in an environment that changes this fast, training alone is never enough. The people who thrive here are the ones who keep learning on their own.
Whether you’re a marketer looking for your next challenge or someone thinking about learning Japanese, Coto’s door is open. Come see what we’re building!
Ready to join us?
At Coto World, we are always on the lookout for curious, driven people who are passionate about language, culture, and building something meaningful. Whether you are just starting out or looking to grow your skills in a dynamic, multilingual environment, we would love to hear from you.
The Marketing Team welcomes interns who want to help grow our brand through social media and online presence, and who are eager to contribute to something that genuinely connects people. If that sounds like you, check out our careers page and take the first step.
